Oxford's wartime mint — established in 1642 after Charles retreated there following his failed attempt to seize the London arsenal at Hull — struck these large gold pieces from plate and silverware surrendered by Royalist supporters and Oxford college plate. The Triple Unite was the highest denomination in English coinage, worth sixty shillings, and its production at Oxford rather than the Tower was itself a declaration of parallel authority.
The "without scarf" distinction separates this die variety from the more common scarfed portrait. Spink 2727 is the scarcer of the two principal types.
Oxford's wartime mint — established in 1642 after Charles retreated there following his failed attempt to seize the London arsenal at Hull — struck these large gold pieces from plate and silverware surrendered by Royalist supporters and Oxford college plate. The Triple Unite was the highest denomination in English coinage, worth sixty shillings, and its production at Oxford rather than the Tower was itself a declaration of parallel authority.
The "without scarf" distinction separates this die variety from the more common scarfed portrait. Spink 2727 is the scarcer of the two principal types.